September 28th, 2018

September 28, 2018

Happy Autumn!

Now that we are finishing the first month of school things are starting to settle down. Students are figuring out their routines for the year and relationships are being built with peers and teachers. Understandably this process has been more challenging in the two classrooms that don’t have a permanent teacher yet. I understand the concerns about the learning needs of the students in these rooms being met, I too have my concerns. The district is currently doing their best to hire as many qualified, quality teachers they can. I am constantly checking on the status of these two positions with calls to Human Resources. In the meantime various staff members are pitching in to make sure there are structures in place and a clear direction for the TTOCs to guide the learning.

Garden Towers

One of our garden towers is up and running. With the help of a couple of students Ms. Chalmers and Mrs. Sutherland have planted basil, gourmet lettuce and kale. 2 tomato plants will be added on the bottom to even it out. It should only take about 3-4 weeks before we reap the rewards of their hard work and are able to enjoy the fruits (or veggies) of their labour.

Anthony McLean

On Tuesday, September 18th, our grade 7s went to D.W Poppy to participate in an assembly that featured Anthony McLean. Anthony McLean is a rapper, YouTuber and motivational speaker who has delivered hundreds of presentations across Canada, the U.S. and Australia. He combines powerful teaching, practical strategies, and Hip Hop music for a high-energy presentation that audiences love. Anthony’s favourite topics are Leadership, Mental Health, and Bullying. While being entertained and engaged our grade 7s heard a message that conveyed that they can do anything they put their mind to. McLean also emphasized that we all have something that we are insecure about and we all need to be accepting of each other…”I won’t laugh at yours and I hope you won’t laugh at mine. Deal?” Finally, he spoke to the importance of thoughtful posting on the internet and the potential impact our digital footprint can have on our future. Overall the students really enjoyed being invited to assembly and found the presentation engaging and impacting. A big shout out to Mr. Kozlovic for the invitation!

School Improvement Day

September 21st was our school improvement day. After the early dismissal the staff came together to work on our school’s Action Plan For Learning. During this time we were able to establish a school goal, develop an inquiry question to guide our thinking, discuss some possible strategies we could use to achieve our goal as well as spending some time relationship building amongst ourselves. Moving forward the team will work on discerning how best to engage the community in supporting our vision, how to measure our progress, what tools and strategies can be given to students to enhance their learning, what professional development is needed to improve our practice, how we can best use our space and time to support student learning, and what costs are involved to achieve and sustain our goals.

Buses

Parents are reminded that all students riding District buses must be registered via the District’s online registration system at www.sd35.bc.ca/schools/transportation/by October 1st. If you are having registration challenges, please contact the Transportation Department at 778-736-0792. Registering your child(ten) will ensure transportation has an accurate student roster to identify each child, with all the information required to organize the most efficient route and safest stop possible. In addition, this provides Transportation with direct contact information in case of emergencies, medical issues, or delays.

Cross Country

When children become involved in running it not only keeps them physically fit and healthy, it also provides many valuable life-learning tools that can harness the development of a child right through into adulthood. For example: better concentration for academic work, the building of confidence, time management skills, working towards goals and participating within a team and as an individual. I am proud to say that we have almost 30 students participating in cross country this year! Each of them attend their practices and participate whole heartedly. All of them doing very well and some of them qualifying for the final! Way to go BEARS!

Terry Fox

There are times when people will choose to do something generous and selfless for the benefit of others. Terry Fox was such a person. His attempt to run across Canada and raise money for cancer research was a significant act of generosity that thousands of people try to replicate every year with their participation in a local Terry Fox run. Our run was a great success. Our grade sevens lead our students in their warm up and lead the cheer when all was done. We weren’t able to do our colour run as planned because we were unsure that students with colour on them would be allowed on the bus. We will plan a colour run later in the year and make sure everyone is properly prepared with an extra change of clothes for the ride home.

Orange Shirt Day

Langley School district has made a commitment to ensure our work towards reconciliation is living and active. A part of that work is our participation in Orange Shirt Day. On this day we encourage staff and students to wear orange shirts in order to honour those who survived residential school and the memory of those who didn’t, while recognizing the harm done to all Indigenous people. As a school we held an assembly so that the students could hear about the differences between their schooling and the schooling that was experienced by an Indigenous child attending residential school. Although it probably wasn’t enough to provide a clear understanding to the students it helped us to take one step closer to a better understanding.